Silver Used for a great variety of purposes, as may be judged from the frequent references to it in Scripture. It first appears in commerce in Gen 13:2; Gen 23:15, Gen 23:16. It was largely employed for making vessels for the sanctuary in the wilderness (Exo 26:19; Exo 27:17; Num 7:13, Num 7:19; Num 10:2). There is no record of its having been found in Syria or Palestine. It was brought in large quantities by foreign merchants from abroad, from Spain and India and other countries probably.

Silverling (Isa 7:23). Literally the words are "at a thousand of silver", i.e., "pieces of silver," or shekels.

Simeon Hearing. (1.) The second son of Jacob by Leah (Gen 29:33). He was associated with Levi in the terrible act of vengeance against Hamor and the Shechemites (Gen 34:25, Gen 34:26). He was detained by Joseph in Egypt as a hostage (Gen 42:24). His father, when dying, pronounced a malediction against him (Gen 49:5). The words in the Authorized Version (Gen 49:6), "they digged down a wall," ought to be, as correctly rendered in the Revised Version, "they houghed an ox." (2.) An aged saint who visited the temple when Jesus was being presented before the Lord, and uttered lofty words of thanksgiving and of prophecy (Luk 2:29). (3.) One of the ancestors of Joseph (Luk 3:30). (4.) Surnamed Niger, i.e., "black," perhaps from his dark complexion, a teacher of some distinction in the church of Antioch (Act 13:1). It has been supposed that this was the Simon of Cyrene who bore Christ's cross. Note the number of nationalities represented in the church at Antioch. (5.) James (Act 15:14) thus designates the apostle Peter (q.v.).

Simeon, The Tribe of Was "divided and scattered" according to the prediction in Gen 49:5. They gradually dwindled in number, and sank into a position of insignificance among the other tribes. They decreased in the wilderness by about two-thirds (compare Num 1:23; Num 26:14). Moses pronounces no blessing on this tribe. It is passed by in silence (Deut. 33). This tribe received as their portion a part of the territory already allotted to Judah (Jos 19:1). It lay in the south-west of the land, with Judah on the east and Dan on the north; but whether it was a compact territory or not cannot be determined. The subsequent notices of this tribe are but few (1 Chr. 4:24-43). Like Reuben on the east of Jordan, this tribe had little influence on the history of Israel.

Simon The abbreviated form of Simeon. (1.) One of the twelve apostles, called the Canaanite (Mat 10:4; Mar 3:18). This word "Canaanite" does not mean a native of Canaan, but is derived from the Syriac word Kanean or Kaneniah, which was the name of a Jewish sect. The Revised Version has "Cananaean;" marg., "or Zealot" He is also called "Zelotes" (Luk 6:15; Act 1:13; R.V., "the Zealot"), because previous to his call to the apostleship he had been a member of the fanatical sect of the Zealots. There is no record regarding him. (2.) The father of Judas Iscariot (Joh 6:71; Joh 13:2, Joh 13:26). (3.) One of the brothers of our Lord (Mat 13:55; Mar 6:3). (4.) A Pharisee in whose house "a woman of the city which was a sinner" anointed our Lord's feet with ointment (Luk 7:36). (5.) A leper of Bethany, in whose house Mary anointed our Lord's head with ointment "as he sat at meat" (Mat 26:6; Mar 14:3). (6.) A Jew of Cyrene, in North Africa, then a province of Libya. A hundred thousand Jews from Palestine had been settled in this province by Ptolemy Soter (323-285 B.C.), where by this time they had greatly increased in number. They had a synagogue in Jerusalem for such of their number as went thither to the annual feasts. Simon was seized by the soldiers as the procession wended its way to the place of crucifixion as he was passing by, and the heavy cross which Christ from failing strength could no longer bear was laid on his shoulders. Perhaps they seized him because he showed sympathy with Jesus. He was the "father of Alexander and Rufus" (Mat 27:32). Possibly this Simon may have been one of the "men of Cyrene" who preached the word to the Greeks (Act 11:20). (7.) A sorcerer of great repute for his magical arts among the Samaritans (Act 8:9). He afterwards became a professed convert to the faith under the preaching of Philip the deacon and evangelist (Act 8:12, Act 8:13). His profession was, however, soon found to be hollow. His conduct called forth from Peter a stern rebuke (Act 8:18). From this moment he disappears from the Church's history. The term "Simony," as denoting the purchase for money of spiritual offices, is derived from him. (8.) A Christian at Joppa, a tanner by trade, with whom Peter on one occasion lodged (Act 9:43). (9.) Simon Peter (Mat 4:18). See PETER.

Simri Watchman, a Levite of the family of Merari (Ch1 26:10).

Sin (1.) Is "any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God" (Jo1 3:4; Rom 4:15), in the inward state and habit of the soul, as well as in the outward conduct of the life, whether by omission or commission (Rom 6:12; 7:5-24). It is "not a mere violation of the law of our constitution, nor of the system of things, but an offense against a personal lawgiver and moral governor who vindicates his law with penalties. The soul that sins is always conscious that his sin is (1.) intrinsically vile and polluting, and (2.) that it justly deserves punishment, and calls down the righteous wrath of God. Hence sin carries with it two inalienable characters, (1.) ill-desert, guilt ( reatus ); and (2.) pollution ( macula ).", Hodge's Outlines . The moral character of a man's actions is determined by the moral state of his heart. The disposition to sin, or the habit of the soul that leads to the sinful act, is itself also sin (Rom 6:12; Gal 5:17; Jam 1:14, Jam 1:15). The origin of sin is a mystery, and must for ever remain such to us. It is plain that for some reason God has permitted sin to enter this world, and that is all we know. His permitting it, however, in no way makes God the author of sin. Adam's sin (Gen 3:1) consisted in his yielding to the assaults of temptation and eating the forbidden fruit. It involved in it, (1.) the sin of unbelief, virtually making God a liar; and (2.) the guilt of disobedience to a positive command. By this sin he became an apostate from God, a rebel in arms against his Creator. He lost the favour of God and communion with him; his whole nature became depraved, and he incurred the penalty involved in the covenant of works. Original sin. "Our first parents being the root of all mankind, the guilt of their sin was imputed, and the same death in sin and corrupted nature were conveyed to all their posterity, descending from them by ordinary generation." Adam was constituted by God the federal head and representative of all his posterity, as he was also their natural head, and therefore when he fell they fell with him (Rom 5:12; 1 Cor. 15:22-45). His probation was their probation, and his fall their fall. Because of Adam's first sin all his posterity came into the world in a state of sin and condemnation, i.e., (1.) a state of moral corruption, and (2.) of guilt, as having judicially imputed to them the guilt of Adam's first sin. "Original sin" is frequently and properly used to denote only the moral corruption of their whole nature inherited by all men from Adam. This inherited moral corruption consists in, (1.) the loss of original righteousness; and (2.) the presence of a constant proneness to evil, which is the root and origin of all actual sin. It is called "sin" (Rom 6:12, Rom 6:14, Rom 6:17; Rom 7:5), the "flesh" (Gal 5:17, Gal 5:24), "lust" (Jam 1:14, Jam 1:15), the "body of sin" (Rom 6:6), "ignorance," "blindness of heart," "alienation from the life of God" (Eph 4:18, Eph 4:19). It influences and depraves the whole man, and its tendency is still downward to deeper and deeper corruption, there remaining no recuperative element in the soul. It is a total depravity, and it is also universally inherited by all the natural descendants of Adam (Rom 3:10; Rom 5:12; Rom 8:7). Pelagians deny original sin, and regard man as by nature morally and spiritually well; semi-Pelagians regard him as morally sick; Augustinians, or, as they are also called, Calvinists, regard man as described above, spiritually dead (Eph 2:1; Jo1 3:14). The doctrine of original sin is proved, (1.) From the fact of the universal sinfulness of men. "There is no man that sinneth not" (Kg1 8:46; Isa 53:6; Psa 130:3; Rom 3:19, Rom 3:22, Rom 3:23; Gal 3:22). (2.) From the total depravity of man. All men are declared to be destitute of any principle of spiritual life; man's apostasy from God is total and complete (Job 15:14; Gen 6:5, Gen 6:6). (3.) From its early manifestation (Psa 58:3; Pro 22:15). (4.) It is proved also from the necessity, absolutely and universally, of regeneration (Joh 3:3; Co2 5:17). (5.) From the universality of death (Rom 5:12). Various kinds of sin are mentioned, (1.) "Presumptuous sins," or as literally rendered, "sins with an uplifted hand", i.e., defiant acts of sin, in contrast with "errors" or "inadvertencies" (Psa 19:13). (2.) "Secret", i.e., hidden sins (Psa 19:12); sins which escape the notice of the soul. (3.) "Sin against the Holy Ghost" (q.v.), or a "sin unto death" (Mat 12:31, Mat 12:32; Jo1 5:16), which amounts to a willful rejection of grace. (2.) A city in Egypt, called by the Greeks Pelusium , which means, as does also the Hebrew name, " clayey " or "muddy," so called from the abundance of clay found there. It is called by Ezekiel (Eze 30:15) "the strength of Egypt, "thus denoting its importance as a fortified city. It has been identified with the modern Tineh , "a miry place," where its ruins are to be found. Of its boasted magnificence only four red granite columns remain, and some few fragments of others.

Sin-offering (Heb. hattath ), the law of, is given in detail in Lev. 4-6:13; Lev 9:7, Lev 9:22; Lev 12:6; Lev 15:2, Lev 15:14, Lev 15:25; Lev 14:19, Lev 14:31; Num 6:10. On the day of Atonement it was made with special solemnity (Lev 16:5, Lev 16:11, Lev 16:15). The blood was then carried into the holy of holies and sprinkled on the mercy-seat. Sin-offerings were also presented at the five annual festivals (Num. 28, 29), and on the occasion of the consecration of the priests (Exo 29:10, Exo 29:36). As each individual, even the most private member of the congregation, as well as the congregation at large, and the high priest, was obliged, on being convicted by his conscience of any particular sin, to come with a sin-offering, we see thus impressively disclosed the need in which every sinner stands of the salvation of Christ, and the necessity of making application to it as often as the guilt of sin renews itself upon his conscience. This resort of faith to the perfect sacrifice of Christ is the one way that lies open for the sinner's attainment of pardon and restoration to peace. And then in the sacrifice itself there is the reality of that incomparable worth and preciousness which were so significantly represented in the sin-offering by the sacredness of its blood and the hallowed destination of its flesh. With reference to this the blood of Christ is called emphatically "the precious blood," and the blood that "cleanseth from all sin" (Jo1 1:7).

Sin, Wilderness of Lying between Elim and Sinai (Exo 16:1; compare Num 33:11, Num 33:12). This was probably the narrow plain of el-Markha, which stretches along the eastern shore of the Red Sea for several miles toward the promontory of Ras Mohammed, the southern extremity of the Sinitic Peninsula. While the Israelites rested here for some days they began to murmur on account of the want of nourishment, as they had by this time consumed all the corn they had brought with them out of Egypt. God heard their murmurings, and gave them "manna" and then quails in abundance.

Sinai Of Sin(the moon god), called also Horeb, the name of the mountain district which was reached by the Hebrews in the third month after the Exodus. Here they remained encamped for about a whole year. Their journey from the Red Sea to this encampment, including all the windings of the route, was about 150 miles. The last twenty-two chapters of Exodus, together with the whole of Leviticus and Num. 1-11, contain a record of all the transactions which occurred while they were here. From Rephidim (Exo 17:8) the Israelites journeyed forward through the Wady Solaf and Wady esh-Sheikh into the plain of er-Rahah, "the desert of Sinai," about 2 miles long and half a mile broad, and encamped there "before the mountain." The part of the mountain range, a protruding lower bluff, known as the Ras Sasafeh (Sufsafeh), rises almost perpendicularly from this plain, and is in all probability the Sinai of history. Dean Stanley thus describes the scene:, "The plain itself is not broken and uneven and narrowly shut in, like almost all others in the range, but presents a long retiring sweep, within which the people could remove and stand afar off. The cliff, rising like a huge altar in front of the whole congregation, and visible against the sky in lonely grandeur from end to end of the whole plain, is the very image of the 'mount that might be touched,' and from which the voice of God might be heard far and wide over the plain below." This was the scene of the giving of the law. From the Ras Sufsafeh the law was proclaimed to the people encamped below in the plain of er-Rahah. During the lengthened period of their encampment here the Israelites passed through a very memorable experience. An immense change passed over them. They are now an organized nation, bound by covenant engagement to serve the Lord their God, their ever-present divine Leader and Protector. At length, in the second month of the second year of the Exodus, they move their camp and march forward according to a prescribed order. After three days they reach the "wilderness of Paran," the "et - Tih", i.e., "the desert", and here they make their first encampment. At this time a spirit of discontent broke out amongst them, and the Lord manifested his displeasure by a fire which fell on the encampment and inflicted injury on them. Moses called the place Taberah (q.v.), Num 11:1. The journey between Sinai and the southern boundary of the Promised Land (about 150 miles) at Kadesh was accomplished in about a year. (See MAP The Table of Nations.)